A tycoon ski slope boss faces a £2 million probe over assets allegedly removed from his Snow Factor business before it shut down.
Liquidators claim Jamie Smith and two other directors systematically moved funds from a company used to run the iconic slope at Braehead, near Glasgow.
Smith – who has moved to Greece to run a luxury yachting tour business – has been sent papers outlining claims of “misfeasance” – alleging funds were wrongly moved out of the reach of creditors.
And they have threatened court action if the funds are not repaid.
The Daily Record has told how Smith is one of more than 1,000 directors to use the dodgy “Atherton scheme” that allows them to sell companies with big liabilities for £1 – then sit back and let patsy directors receive any cash demands from creditors, which are simply ignored.
Former employees of Smith’s Snow Factor Ltd company were furious at the latest development, which comes as they battle for redundancy payments, two years after the slope shut down.
One former employee said: “This report suggests that millions of pounds have gone missing.
“If he wanted to wind up the company he should have done it properly and used any assets within the company to pay us our redundancy money.”
More than 100 workers at the Snow Factor at Braehead and the famous Ice Factor climbing wall were left furious at the way the businesses shut down after several connected companies were sold via the Atherton scheme.
A report filed to Companies House on January 2 this year states that more than £400,000 in cash was transferred to other companies within Smith’s Ice Factor Group.
An investigation by accountancy giants RSM allegedly also found that between 21 November 2019 and 12 March 2020, 20 payments of £50,000 were made to parent company Ice Factor International Limited (“IFIL”), amounting to £1,000,000.
The Liquidator’s solicitors, Clarions LLP, issued demands for repayment but have not received any response.
The report states: “Liquidators have commenced a misfeasance recovery action against the former directors of the Company in relation to these sums and intend to pursue recovery through the Court should settlement not be forthcoming.”
The report also claims Snow Factor Ltd also made a loan of £170,172 to sister company Ice Factor Kinlochleven Ltd (IFKL) – which it later released from its obligation to pay the outstanding loan.
Further investigations also relate to potential transactions at “undervalue” – which takes cash from any pot left over for and creditors owed money. The total cash being chased is over £2 million.
The Daily Record has previously told how Jamie Smith from Lochcarron, Wester Ross, sold companies he had used to run the Snow Factor business at Braehead, with patsy directors taking on the companies and their liabilities.
After Smith sold his SF Ops Ltd firm – in a transaction that cost him £15,000 – he moved to Greece to run a yachting business.
A large group of former staff are now seeking to finally have the SF Ops company wound up, to see if accountants might locate any assets that would fund redundancy payments.
The winding up action would also be necessary to trigger government safety-net pay-outs to cover withheld wages, holiday pay & notice period they were denied.
If the liquidator or other third party bringing a claim is able to prove misfeasance in the running of the original Snow Factor Ltd company, they can apply for a court order that enforces the restoration of property/assets, or the repayment of cash to the company.
Now based in Lindos, Smith has been skippering a luxury catamaran that sails the Greek islands with wealthy clients, using a company he set up in that country.
When contacted by the Record, Smith denied any wrongdoing. He said in an email that the claims put to him were made by disgruntled former employees.
He claimed that a senior investigator from the Insolvency Service had compiled a report in November 2023 which found no fault with the actions of the directors that would not result in any disqualification action.
A spokesman for the Insolvency Service said: “We cannot discuss any cases.”
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